The Twilight Zone (1 Viewer)

[Cinescott]

I recently saw "The Long Morrow" from Season 5 for the first time and really liked it.

 

[jimmyjet]

There's definitely people who love that season. The S4 episodes weren't really seen in syndication so the first that I saw them was on the best-of DVD volumes from almost 15 years ago and while it was neat to finally see the shows, most of them didn't do a lot for me. That being said, they aren't terrible and since I've seen those episodes much less than any of the others, it's interesting to see something less familiar from the Twilight Zone.

hi travis,

many of the old tv shows were showing re-runs during the day, while the new airings were on at night.

is this also considered syndication ?

if not, about the only show that i saw in syndication was star trek - many, many times.

i dont think they had tz reruns on during the initial airings ?

i havent really seen tz since the initial airings.

as i watch the shows today, there are some that i have pretty good memories of.

and most of them i have very faint memories. like a bit of dejavu, but not having any real idea as to the outcome.

i have done some googling, but i have not found out much about the 4th season.

i did not recall the hour-switch.

it seems as though s4 went to an hour, but it also did not start until mid-season.

did tz get cancelled, and then un-cancelled ?

and why did they revert back to a half hour in s5 ?

i am sure i knew all this stuff at the original airing, but all of this seems completely lost for me, now.

 

[jimmyjet]

lady anne - another good one

i have seen cecil kellaway in a million different shows, but i dont think i ever knew his name.

but his face was sure familiar.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Twilight Zone was briefly cancelled after Season 3 after Liggett and Meyers Tobacco pulled their sponsorship of the show at the end of Season 3 (ironically, they would return for a few Season 4 shows before being replaced by American Tobacco in Season 5) and Cayuga couldn't find anybody to cover it. That's why the show came back at midseason.

The 1-hour thing was because Gunsmoke had seen a major jump in ratings after expanding to an hour in the 1961-1962 season and CBS wished to capitalize on that with other shows. Alfred Hitchcock Presents also became an hour long show around this time. In the case of Twilight Zone however, much like the show's brief flirtation with 2" Quad tape in season 2, was deemed an utter failure both technically and audience wise. Hence the return to 25 minutes in Season 5, however the damage was already done and Season 5 is easily the worst of the bunch by far (I may think Season 3 is incredibly subpar at times but it never gets as bad as 5 does).

 

[Cinescott]

is this also considered syndication ?

Syndication refers to airings after the show's initial run, mainly on independent channels in the 70s, then onto cable in the 80s and beyond.
Local stations signed on for "packages" of shows like TZ, which gave them a group of "approved" episodes that they could play at will. This often included the most highly-regarded, most popular episodes. Season 4 was not included because it didn't fit the half hour format of the other seasons and was more difficult to schedule.
There were also episodes that were in litigation for copyright infringement that were shelved as well. I believe there were 6 or so episodes that fit that criteria, now on the DVDs and Blu-rays.

 

[Lord Dalek]

When I was living in San Francisco, my beloved old KOFY 20 did use to air the hour longs alongside the regular half-hour episodes so at some point they did enter the syndication package (as did "A Short Drink..." and "Sounds and Silences".)

FTR The so-called "Lost Five" which is actually just a "Lost Two" when all is said and done...

Miniature
A Short Drink From a Certain Fountain
Sounds and Silences (all of these were omitted initially over lawsuits. Said lawsuits eventually expired in the 1970s and the episodes were readded to Syndication in 1984)
The Encounter (outright banned by CBS over content objections)
An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge (The terms of the licensing contract for this stated they could only air it twice and never again).

 

[jimmyjet]

thanks, i am almost done with s4, so i guess i will find out about s5 shortly

 

[jimmyjet]

the bard - they had to end s4 with a weak one.

i will say one thing though, the acting was pretty good.

i didnt know jack weston by name, but sure recall him playing in lots of stuff.

one could hardly miss that voice.

 

[TravisR]

the bard - they had to end s4 with a weak one.

I could be wrong but it seems to me that in the early years of TV, they buried the 'bad' episodes right near the end of the season. Unlike today where networks promote the season finale and want to go out with a good episode.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I could be wrong but it seems to me that in the early years of TV, they buried the 'bad' episodes right near the end of the season. Unlike today where networks promote the season finale and want to go out with a good episode.

Back in the early years, seasons would stretch well into June and by then school was out and everyone was focused on summer activities. TV programmers knew this and scheduled accordingly, tossing out weaker episodes at a time when they knew fewer folks were watching. There was *much* more focus on season premiere week. Generations today probably don't realize what a big deal the premiere week in September was. With only three networks, viewers were barraged all summer long with ads for things to look for in the fall and when premiere week arrived, it was like Christmas.

 

[jimmyjet]

i sure remember premiere week !!

my dad and i would look thru the tv guide, when they started talking about what was gonna come out in the fall.

the time tunnel was one show i recall that both of us were highly anticipating.

 

[jimmyjet]

well, i started s5 tonight

boy, pip was a tearjerker

jack klugman did a great acting job

that is the third episode that billy mumy has been in, if i recall

 

[TravisR]

that is the third episode that billy mumy has been in, if i recall

Yup and it was Klugman's fourth appearance.

 

[jimmyjet]

cuz i am not surprised about klugman, i cant recall him.

but i do seem to recall him being in one about a horn ?

there are several times when someone comes up, and i recall him from another episode.

but then sort of trivialities tend to disappear rather quickly !!

but even more than another episode, i chuckle when i see someone arrive somewhat before they were famous.

like burt reynolds was in the bard. i didnt realize he was so skinny when he was young.

it took me awhile to figure out who he was - only that he looked somewhat familiar.

 

[TravisR]

cuz i am not surprised about klugman, i cant recall him.

but i do seem to recall him being in one about a horn ?

there are several times when someone comes up, and i recall him from another episode.

Yeah, he's in A Passage For Trumpet (as a down and out trumpet player), A Game Of Pool (playing pool against a ghostly Jonathan Winters), Death Ship (as a starship captain) and then his final episode is In Praise Of Pip.

 

[jimmyjet]

i do recall them, now.

 

[jimmyjet]

rod serling's preachiness was talked about on another thread as somehow being bad.

i always considered it an asset.

does anyone here understand what the deeper meaning of "to serve man" was about ?

cuz when i talk to most people about it, they dont have a clue ?

 

[FanCollector]

I think it's a cautionary tale against easy fixes to man's problems. If something seems like a quick solution, it isn't a good one. We cannot hope for some outside power to fix our planet; we need to do the hard work ourselves.

 

[jimmyjet]

well that is indeed a good deep thought. and i agree that that was a big part of what serling was saying.

but what made this episode particularly good, is that there is a whole other meaning to it, that does not seem to grab people.

like the eye of the beholder had quite a few layered meanings to it - it was quite a good show.

 

[jimmyjet]

like star trek and many other good shows, they show us a lot about our selves, the human condition.

and how we might possibly better our condition by understanding and acting accordingly.